Xie Lanzhi raised her eyebrows and said, "Little Phoenix, I haven't even mentioned your recent activities in Jiujin. I said I can't rush things, but you're already in a hurry to eat hot tofu."
Si Xitong said, "After I eliminate the influence of the Duke of Zheng, those vacant official positions will naturally need to be filled."
Xie Lanzhi also said, "There are others who have similar thoughts to you. For example, that young master who delivered the letter."
Si Xitong finally understood why she had made her stance clear in the Golden Palace today; it seemed she had made arrangements in private. Tianjing was now the center of the Xie clan, their powerful influence radiating to the surrounding areas, including the Eight Jin states. To put it nicely, they were vassal states; to put it bluntly, Tianjing was caught in the middle, with the Eight Jin states surrounding it like four large nets, capable of encircling Tianjing at will.
Xie Lanzhi never liked having a sword hanging over her head, especially when she wasn't the one wielding it. So whatever the reason, she would admit it; if she was wrong, she would admit it; if she deserved to be beaten, she would be beaten!
"The elopement is a pretext?"
"No, it's true. It's just that the young master is quite ambitious. I took advantage of his ambition, and then he used his knowledge of the Second and Third Jin states to send a letter asking for help."
The war was started by a small kidnapping incident and a letter. How absurd.
There are countless absurd things that happen in chaotic times.
Si Xitong thought of Si Lei, who had some ability, but was not worth mentioning.
"What are your plans to do about Fourth Uncle?"
"He'll arrive tomorrow," Xie Lanzhi said calmly. She was clearly already prepared.
Since she arrived in Tianjing, everything around Tianjing has become like a network; by peeling back the layers, the root cause can always be found. And Tianjing is that root cause; Tianjing needs to become the political center of the surrounding area.
Si Xitong said, "I won't ask."
"Then I must ask," Xie Lanzhi said, "Is Ma Jing really reliable?"
Little Phoenix has been acting as hastily as she has been lately, but that's because she has prior knowledge of the original story. In the original novel, after the Eight Jins refused to help the Emperor of Xicheng, the Empress suffered at least four-tenths of the hardships caused by the Eight Jins. The remaining six-tenths of the suffering occurred either in Xie Ying or during the chaotic times. The author will definitely bring out the Eight Jins to deal with Little Phoenix, so she might as well eliminate them in advance, minimizing the number of enemies in the southern and central regions.
It would be best to reduce the threat to just the two major enemies: the Northern Regions and the Xiongnu.
The plot twists she takes to protect her will change, but they won't alter the main storyline.
"Little Phoenix, why aren't you answering?"
Seeing that she didn't answer immediately, Xie Lanzhi was a little worried. Could it be that the young girl wasn't confident? She was still young and had only recently entered politics. Without experience, she was bound to make mistakes on the spot.
"Don't worry, I'll help you with your research."
Si Xitong looked at her with complicated emotions. She was clearly worried about her, but Si Xitong seemed more worried about herself. A sweet feeling welled up in her heart, but it was also accompanied by a heavy sense of concern.
Si Xitong suddenly lowered her head, making her expression unreadable. She bit her lip and said, "Lanzhi, I always feel that you're in a hurry. The more anxious you are, the faster you walk."
"That's what makes me even more afraid."
Her tone was low and her emotions were tense, making it seem as if she had been bullied.
Xie Lanzhi was taken aback. She quickly sat down next to her, gently put her arm around her waist, and whispered in her ear, "I'm just eliminating potential future problems in advance, not saying I'm going to leave anytime soon."
“I know you’ve always looked up to me, but you also have to know that you can’t just copy someone else.”
She needed to forge her own path. However, Xie Lanzhi hadn't anticipated that her hasty actions would cause Xiao Fenghuang anxiety.
Xie Lanzhi began to reflect on herself.
Si Xitong looked up, her eyes filled with a mixture of worry and unease about the future. She looked up at her reflection, her gaze occasionally tightening as if she wanted to fix her firmly in her eyes, afraid that she would disappear. She didn't know when she had been infected with this feeling of gain and loss.
She knew that Little Phoenix was a sensitive girl. She was only seventeen years old, and her birthday in June was still six months away. In six months, she would be eighteen.
If she were a college student at eighteen in modern times, she wouldn't be facing the daily routine of taking the bus to school every morning, but rather the daily struggle of escaping by horse-drawn carriage and being chased in a sorry state.
Those who protected and were close to her were either dead or injured; almost all of her relatives were gone. She was truly all alone.
etc....
Xie Lanzhi suddenly realized that on her first day in the palace, Little Phoenix had told her about the Star-Picking Tower nearby, where priests could exorcise ghosts.
She said that with her around, ghosts wouldn't dare approach. Was it at that moment that Little Phoenix gave her a hint? A hint that she wouldn't let ghosts near her, perhaps because she thought Little Phoenix was the ghost, and she feared another ghost would replace her?
Because she isn't the real Xie Ying.....
Xie Lanzhi immediately ordered the palace servants and guards who were on duty to go outside and stand further away.
Finally, Xie Lanzhi released her waist and began to examine Si Xitong's clothes.
Si Xitong paused slightly, but she did not stop her. Instead, she took off her clothes herself with her bare hands.
She untied the bow she had tied at her waist, imitating Xie Lanzhi's style. The light gauze fell away, revealing a red silk bodice embroidered with mandarin ducks. Xie Lanzhi's gaze sharpened, and she searched nervously, finally finding a cool, jade Guanyin pendant on her collarbone.
A fleeting image of the customs of the Great Jin Dynasty described by the original author flashed through her mind. It was just a single sentence, and she had assumed it was something the author had written unintentionally, without any other plot developments. But now, she had no choice but to believe it.
The original text describes a legend in the history of the Jin Dynasty: there were instances of resurrected spirits. These spirits required the nourishment of high-quality ancient jade to possess a body. Therefore, spirits would often choose to possess a noble person to return to the world of the living. However, spirits also had inviolable taboos; they could not possess those with malevolent energy or those who had committed heinous crimes. Such people were already being held captive by messengers in the underworld, awaiting their death to be brought down to the netherworld. Only after atonement could they be allowed to be reborn.
Normally, Xie Lanzhi would have found it amusing, but right now she was facing Si Xitong, who was suppressing his emotions and pretending not to be worried.
Her nose tingled with emotion: "So, you were afraid that if I suddenly left, I wouldn't be able to possess you anymore, and you were also afraid that I would overthink and become restless and distracted, so... so you secretly wore it yourself."
"So you can only fall asleep when you snuggle into my arms every night because you believe the jade pendant can transfer yang energy to me through you?"
A woman who should not believe in superstitions, at some point, in some place, came to believe in these things.
That's...that's so stupid it's heartbreaking.
Suppressing her emotions, Xie Lanzhi said in a trembling voice, "Then aren't you afraid that I am some other ghost who secretly sucks your life force every night while you're asleep?"
When faced with choices, she always says frankly, "I'm not afraid."
Si Xitong gently stroked her face, his fingertips tracing Xie Lanzhi's features as if trying to explore her soul through her appearance: "As long as you don't disappear."
"I have nothing to fear anymore."
Chapter 62 Abolish the Feudal System!
That night, the two of them covered themselves with blankets and talked about their childhood. Xie Lanzhi listened to Si Xitong talk about her childhood while lying on her side with her head on her back.
When Si Xitong asked about Xie Lanzhi, Xie Lanzhi told her about her uneventful twenty years.
Si Xitong's eyes were bright, as if he really liked her ordinary life.
Xie Lanzhi told her about her parents, as if it were a bedtime story, along with stories her best friend had told her and what her uncles and aunts had told her about them. But she didn't tell her that she had never actually met her parents.
Si Xitong seemed to want to hear everything about her in one night. Even though she was sleepy, she forced herself to stay awake. Xie Lanzhi pulled her into her arms and gently patted her back: "Go to sleep. I will tell you everything one by one later."
"Alright, you promised. You can't... go back on your word." Si Xitong's eyelids were heavy; she was exhausted from dealing with the Nine Jin and recruiting military officials recently.
"Yes. Life is so long. We don't need to rush." Xie Lanzhi felt relieved. Little Phoenix was right. She had been rushing to meet deadlines lately, and she hadn't realized that she thought everything was ready if she prepared in advance.
Little Phoenix is right, haste makes waste. Impatience leads to failure.
I could feel the person in my arms had drifted off to sleep.
Xie Lanzhi lowered her head and gently kissed her temple, silently saying, "Goodnight, my little phoenix."
Tonight, Fu Feng is just her little phoenix.
The following day, the Golden Palace was noisier than usual. Jingchen and Xie Shi, as if they were kowtowing to the Eight Jin, repeatedly brought up the policy of weakening the power of the vassal states.
Jing Chen, usually calm, was now enraged, listing a string of crimes committed by the Eight Jin. Xie Shi echoed his sentiments.
Some calm officials raised a question: "Marshal, all my colleagues have proposed to reduce the power of the princes, and I support it. However, we need to trace the origins of this policy."
"Since the Marshal protects the rites of Jin, he cannot avoid those who enfeoffed the nine states of Jin and practiced the ancient Zhou rites."
He was none other than the father of the Western Emperor, the Retired Emperor.
Upon hearing this, Si Bogong immediately bristled and glared, "Zhao Gongming! What did you say?"
Zhao Gongming was the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. After Xie Lanzhi took over Tianjing, he had just been imprisoned in a death row by Huang Mang. Later, when the death row was broken, he also escaped. However, unlike others, he did not flee to Shanxi, but stayed in Tianjing.
Later, Xie Lanzhi retained her position as an official in Tianjing, and Zhao Gongming was recommended by Duke Zheng to join the government. When Duke Zheng moved to Jiujin, he wanted to take Zhao Gongming with him, but Zhao Gongming refused. He also actively distanced himself from Duke Zheng, which displeased the Duke.
As a result, Zhao Gongming reduced his profile and worked diligently in the Ministry of Personnel.
Xie Lanzhi said, "Oh, tell me about it."
Zhao Gongming said, "Its origins can be traced back to the retired Emperor Xiao Hong, who in his fiftieth year carried out a large-scale restoration of the Zhou Tian system, enfeoffing eight kings and leaving nine imperial edicts to the emperor."
"The capital of the Nine Jin states was the capital of the Son of Heaven. The eight Jin states were each ruled by a king, but none of them could claim the title of emperor. Even if the Jin dynasty fell into decline, the eight Jin states could not claim the title of emperor. They were mostly rulers of their own states."
“Now that you want to attack the two Jin and three Jin states, you should accuse them of escalating the conflict, at most punish them, but not punish them to death, and certainly not abolish Jin. If you insist on abolishing Jin, then the marshal will appear to be making a mountain out of a molehill. People will think that you are still following the kingly way! It is completely inconsistent with your sincerity in upholding the rites of Jin.”
Si Bogong initially thought he was criticizing the ancestors, but unexpectedly, the conversation shifted to directly criticizing Xie Shuai. He immediately broke out in a cold sweat: Was this man courting death?
Both Xie and Jingchen observed Xie Lanzhi's expression.
Xie Lanzhi remained expressionless. After thinking for a moment and scrutinizing the prince, she said, "In your opinion? Lord Zhao believes that I am making a mountain out of a molehill and that this contradicts the principles of Jin. So, Lord Zhao believes that if time could be reversed, the Xie army could avoid conflict with the Second and Third Jin?"
Zhao Gongming said, "No, I know that the situation here is a result of the two and three Jin states making a fool of themselves and collided with Xie's army, resulting in their annihilation. However, if the Marshal were to abolish the two Jin states for this reason, it would be detrimental to your hard work and efforts over the past six months."
Xie Lanzhi nodded: "I think that makes sense."
Seeing that she was listening, Zhao Gongming's eyes lit up and he took the opportunity to say a few more words: "The corrupt practices of the retired emperor."
Si Bogong immediately started fuming again: When will this person ever stop? He's shifting the blame onto his ancestors again!
Although it is true, as descendants, we must feel uncomfortable when our ancestors are criticized.
"The corrupt practices of the retired emperor must be corrected. Since the marshal wants to restore the Jin dynasty rites, then restore them to the extreme, starting from the source!" Zhao Gongming suddenly knelt down, raised his hands, and shouted passionately, "Therefore, I do not agree with the policy of weakening the vassal states!"
"I believe that all the mistakes began with the retired emperor. As his descendant, the ruler of Jiujin has the responsibility to first abolish the corrupt practices and restore the rites of the retired emperor. He should also befriend neighboring countries and restore the tributary system. As the supreme nation, we have an obligation to restore peace to the world."
Now that the Great Jin Dynasty is in chaos, the surrounding vassal states are also in turmoil. Neighboring states bully each other, and the strong oppress the weak. In the past, if the Great Jin Dynasty had intervened, it could have suppressed the situation and kept the vassal states at peace. But now that the Great Jin Dynasty exists in name only, various neighboring small states have taken the opportunity to expand and encroach on the islands, occupying a lot of the Great Jin Dynasty's coastal territory, which is truly heartbreaking.
However, the pretext of "reclaiming" the territory seems more legitimate than "reducing the power of the feudal lords."
When Si Bogong heard that even his grandfather's grandfather had been brought up, he immediately stood up and said, "Zhao Gongming is right."
Si Bogong's open command surprised Jing Chen and Xie Shi. Just a moment ago, he was so anxious that he was jumping up and down, but now he was rushing to agree. Sure enough, Si Bogong's heart is fickle.
Upon hearing these remarks, the officials in the capital fell into deep thought. The difference between "reducing the power of the vassal states" and "reclaiming the lost territories" was only two words, yet their implications were worlds apart. The historical record of Xie Zhu would likely be mixed in the future.
However, if the banner is "recovery and unification," history will surely praise it first.
Xie stood up and echoed, "Lord Zhao is absolutely right. If the Marshal is to restore the Jin Dynasty's rites, he must do so from its most prosperous period. Otherwise, this misconception will lead to a mistake in your decision-making."
Xie Lanzhi glanced at Zhao Gongming and asked, "Does Lord Zhao currently work in the Ministry of Personnel?"
"yes!"
Xie Lanzhi gave him high praise: "From this day forward, you will serve as the acting Minister of Personnel. When the nine Jin states are unified, you will be the greatest contributor to the restoration of the Jin rites."
Zhao Gongming bowed and kowtowed: "Your subject will certainly not fail the Great Jin."